Before the Wires
by Gyni
Summary: There was a time before, before the wires, before the programming, before the killing. A time when they were human, a time when they were simple teenagers wreaking havoc in a cry for attention. Before Android 17 and 18 were androids they were human beings, human's with family and lives. This is the story of their lives before their android conversion.
1. Chapter 1

"You're such a child, Lapis." Lazuli rolled her eyes at her brother.

"Relax, Lazuli." Lapis shook the spray paint can and continued to tag the building. His name scrawled across in big decorative letters. "Come on, Lazuli, it's not finished unless you do it too."

"Whatever." Lazuli righted herself from the wall she was leaning on and shook her own spray paint can. She sauntered over crossing one foot over the other. Her hand tagged the building carelessly and elegantly. Lapis admired his sister's handy work as she finished with an elegant curl. Together their names were Lapis Lazuli, like the stone.

"There, are you happy?" Lazuli fisted her hand on her hip and threw her near empty can into the dumpster.

"Looks good, sis." He nodded appreciatively.

"Now let's go, there's a sale at that little boutique on south Blvd. and I need some new clothes." Lazuli led the way with a flick of her hair, she grabbed her bike and sped off, one had to be in good shape to get away from any buzz kills.

"Why does it matter if there's a sale?" Lapis yelled after his Lazuli "it's not like you pay for the stuff anyway."

"Yeah, so, a sale is a sale." Lazuli ramped off a speed bump and whipped around the corner skidding to a stop in front of the boutique.

"How long is this going to take?" Lapis groaned following his sister in.

"However long it takes for me to find something cute." Lazuli fingered through the clothes, she picked out a pair of leggings, a jean skirt and a black and white striped shirt. "This is going to look so cute together." Lazuli purred flicking through the rest of the racks, she flicked her blonde hair aside and continued on through.

Lapis trailed along behind his sister, _man, is she_ ever _going to finish_

"How do I know there's nothing cute left if I don't look through everything?" Lazuli snapped. Lapis frowned at their twin telepathy, sometimes it was just annoying. How was he supposed to complain to himself when she always knew what he was thinking?

Lazuli took her time, there was something calming about being amongst the chaos of a sale. Woman were nearly ripping each other's throats out of some underwear and then there were the girls her age that prowled through looking for something no one else had. Lazuli combed through another rack, easily avoiding the fights and arguments, she was practically a chameleon, no one saw her unless she wanted them to. There was acute gold hair clip accented with jewels and silver delicately spun throughout the gold.

"This would look great in my hair." Lazuli passed behind one of the groups of arguing woman and slid the clip into her hair. That was the great thing about these boutiques, they never had cameras. Lazuli caught sight of Lapis in the corner of the store against the window, pretending he was too cool for everything. Lazuli rolled her eyes, that was her brother, _far_ too cool for anything and everything "child." She scoffed tucking her hair behind her ear. Thumbing through the last rack there was simply nothing else in the entire boutique that she wanted "bummer." She sighed "I was looking for a good haul, oh well." Tucking the leggings into the striped shirt she tied the sleeves around her waist like a sweater and slid out the door without notice. Lapis followed her out a second later

"What, were you just going to leave me in there?" Lapis asked with narrowed eyes. Lazuli smiled at him "what's the matter?" Lazuli challenged "scared of a few girls?" Lazuli hopped on her bike and continued on to the next boutique, a lovely French inspired boutique run by a woman who Lazuli didn't hate.

"Bonjour madam Catrize." Lazuli greeted the older woman from behind the counter.

"Bonjour, Lazuli." Madam Catrize greeted with a smile "and what can I help you with today?" Madam Catrize came out from behind the counter and embraced Lazuli.

"Nothing really, there's a lot of sales going on now." Lazuli looked around at all the people who had managed to squeeze into the tiny boutique. Madame Catrize's boutique was the smallest boutique in the entire city but there was no denying that it was special. Lazuli spotted an even prettier barrette on the display table, this one had strands of silver and gold twisted together and woven around a few blue gemstone. "Wow, that's beautiful." Lazuli reached for it, Madame Catrize got to it first "Its lapis lazuli." Madame Catrize said with a smile. Lazuli and Lapis looked at each other.

"It would look good with your skin." Lapis offered the thin compliment. Lazuli considered the gorgeous piece "how much?" Lazuli eyed the piece, out of all the pretty stones and one of a kind pieces she owned, this was far more unique. That was the allure of Madam Catrize's shop, her jewelry was one of a kind, she never made duplicates.

"For you?" Madam considered Lazuli and smiled. She slipped the barrette into Lazuli's hair pulling the blonde strands away from her face "it's yours."

"I can't accept that." Lazuli frowned "this piece is worth a lot of money. It must have taken you hours to make." Madame Catrize just smiled and cupped Lazuli's face in her hand "somethings can't be priced, some things just belong somewhere."

"But Madame-" Lazuli objected, Madame Catrize pressed a finger to Lazuli's lips "hush child, it doesn't cost money, just a promise." Madame Catrize smiled "promise me, that whenever you where this it will be like this."

"Why…" Lazuli asked not understanding.

"You have a beautiful face, girl." Madame Catrize cupped her chin then "it shouldn't be hidden."

"Tell that to my mother." Lazuli scoffed scowling, then her hand went to the barrette in her hair. "I can't…" Lazuli went to pull it out of her hair but Madame Catrize took her hand and pulled it in front of her. "Listen to me, Lazuli." Madame fixed her with a stern look "you are beautiful and I want a promise from those pretty lips."

"But-"

"Lazuli." She spoke sternly and gave Lazuli that look, the look that meant she wasn't going to back down. Lazuli sighed and dropped her eyes for a moment. "Okay…" she lifted her eyes back up, softened her gaze and smiled "I promise."

"Good." Madame kissed Lazuli's head and sent her off. "Go shop more now."

"Thank you, Madame Catrize." Lazuli hugged the woman and followed Lapis out of the shop.

"Are we done?" Lapis asked. Lazuli pulled the barrette out of her hair and gingerly tucked it into her tiny side purse.

"No, I want to go a few more places." Lazuli grabbed her bike and walked it down the next line of stores until she found one that caught her eye. It was nothing special, the merchandise was pretty mainstream but it was the perfect place to lift from, busy, big enough to hide in and low security.

Finally Lapis and Lazuli slipped out in the chaos of the other sale hoppers. It was a clean get away. Lapis and Lazuli celebrated their escape as they barreled down the street, through the beat up neighborhoods and cracked streets. The twins were flying, they were free, free from everything that could tie them down, free from law, free from responsibilities and pressures. The world was open and waiting for them, until the lights flashed behind them.

"Stop you kids!" the officer yelled from behind them.

"Uh oh, they're gaining on us, Lapis." Lazuli laughed ramping off another speed bump, Lapis' bike swiveled, nearly colliding with a pedestrian.

"Ha, Careful, Lapis, I think you're losing your touch." Lazuli laughed,

"You should have been more careful." Lapis snapped at her, irritated he had been thrown like that.

"I didn't even take anything else, it was you ex-girlfriend who ratted us out." Lazuli hit the break and drifted around a corner and into an alley.

"Pura is so getting it for this one." Lapis growled thinking of his ex, she was so vindictive.

"Lapis, look out!" Lazuli yelled when she saw it. A car rounded the corner just as they came to the turn. The twins hit the car at the same time flipping over the hood and flying over the pavement.

"Nice going, Lapis." Lazuli groaned.

"Not… my… fault…" Lapis moaned back. The pain in their head radiated throughout their bodies as the lay there, the scrapes burned, the bruises already ached and Consciousness slipped away. The police approached the teens cautiously, once they found them completely incapacitated an ambulance was called and the twins were taken away.

At the hospital and as soon as their injuries were treated their parents were called while an unsuspecting figure dressed as a doctor slipped into their room.

Lazuli was faintly aware of the extra presence in her room and the cuff that held her to the bed. Man, everything _hurt_ , especially her head.

"Perfect condition." The male voice penetrated her consciousness, the voice just sounded creepy honestly. Lazuli wanted to make fun of it with Lapis but she knew he wasn't awake yet.

"Doctor, how are they?" Lazuli recognized her mother's voice immediately _we are so busted_ Lazuli thought

"Your children will be just fine." The creepy voice continued "some rest and recovery time is all they need."

The world faded out as she felt her mother's hand close around her own.

"Why do you do this?" Lazuli's mother pressed her hand to her head "oh, baby, why…" her voice faded out. _Why is not the question_ Lazuli's thoughts wondered _it's why not…_

Lapis knew his arm was broken, when something broke, you just knew it and the pain radiating from his arm assured him that it was broke. It was like he could feel the space between the bones, right between his wrist and elbow. He had tried to catch himself, he remembered the feeling if the concrete scraping his arm and then the weight of his body hitting at just the right angle to break it. It'd been awhile since he'd broken anything, he forgot how much it sucked. How was he going to do anything with his right arm broken?

"What do you have to say for yourself?" His father's voice was like a wrecking ball to his already scattered thoughts.

 _"Hmm…" Lapis'_ father waited for him to respond _"like you ever have an answer"_ he scoffed _"You could have been great you know."_ His father went on _"smart, great at everything, but here you are wasting your talent on petty crimes."_ Lapis' father placed his hands on the railing of the bed and exhaled _"disappointing…"_ Lapis liked to pretend that didn't hurt, but he'd be lying and he and Lazuli promised each other two things. One, they would never lie to each other and two they would never lie to themselves. _Whatever, I don't care_ Lapis broke that promise a lot. Everything faded into the background and Lapis was left to wander through his mind, unfortunately the only thing on his mind was the pain coursing through out his entire body. It was like the pain was pushed all over every time his heart beat, like he was just one big throbbing ache. Yeah, that was about right.


	2. Chapter 2

Bed rest wouldn't be so bad if Lapis and Lazuli hadn't also been grounded from T.V. Lapis worked on a drawing of the city, overhead Lazuli and himself hovered, a faded image of the world covering the background. They looked invincible, frozen in time as warriors, heroes. Lapis had worked extra time on Lazuli's trade mark smirk, the looked permanently plastered on her face. He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye to see that very smirk on her face right then as she worked on her own sketch.

"You do know it's weird that you're right handed but you draw with your left hand, right?" she asked tilting her head toward him with a smirk. He mimicked her expression "you do know it's weird that you hate marshmallows but love s'mores, right."

"Please, it's different." Lazuli flicked her hair and went back to her own pad. She sketched the ocean, full of waves lapping up against the sand as a small girl played on the beach. In the water there was a boy that looked just like the girl. Lazuli had the vague notion that this was a memory but she couldn't remember a single time she had been to the ocean. Her parents were terrified of the water, they didn't even have a bath tub in their house, it was all stand up showers.

"What ya drawing, sis?" Lapis asked trying to peer around her hand but Lazuli pulled it away from him "forget it, last time I showed you my drawing you analyzed it for the next month."

"You should take my interest as a compliment." Lapis argued but went back to his own drawing anyway.

"Wouldn't it be cool to fly?" Lapis said suddenly.

"Fly?" Lazuli set her pad down and looked to the sky, what would it be like to be able to simply take flight? "Yeah, that would be awesome." She smiled slightly and turned back to her brother "why, figure out a way?" she taunted "or just daydreaming?"

"Maybe I did." He shot back "maybe I just don't want to tell you because then I'd never be able to get away from you."

"Huh." Lazuli frowned at her brother "you're the one who's always following me around."

"As if." Lapis waved his hand dismissively "you're just jealous that I'm the cool one."

"Psh, yeah right." Lazuli scoffed returning to her drawing.

"Someday." Lazuli said suddenly, "we're going to be free and nothing and no one is going to be able to stop us or tell us what we can and can't do."

Lazuli laughed "a boy can dream I suppose" though she said it she was still looking at every possible way of escape, some people just didn't fit into the mold of society and Lazuli felt that she and her brother were those people. There just had to be more for people like them, people always searching and scratching for the kind of freedom that let them do anything that let the people make the laws and govern themselves. Lazuli glanced out her window suddenly feeling like someone was watching her, there were people across the street but no one looked out of place.

"What's the matter?" Lapis asked noticing his sister's eyes searching their painfully dull upper class neighborhood.

"Nothing." Lazuli said "just being paranoid I suppose." She turned back to her pad and flipped to a new page.

"That's real interesting." Lapis said dismissively he set his pad down and folded his good arm behind his head and rested his broken one on his chest.

"Shut up, Lapis, you can feel it when people are staring at you." Lazuli threw her pad onto the floor and crossed her arms wincing at the ache in her shoulder, a reminder of her dislocated shoulder.

"Yeah, if you're a freak." Lapis taunted. Lazuli threw her pillow at him.

"Hey, watch it." Lapis caught the pillow, pain shot up his arm when he caught it, "I'm injured." He used his good arm to throw the pillow back at her. The pillow missed Lazuli, she smirked "I hope you weren't trying to hit me." She flicked her hair to the side "because that was pathetic."

"You try throwing something with your non-dominant arm." Lapis shot back.

"If you insist." Lazuli grabbed the pillow with her left hand and threw it at her brother, unlike Lapis, Lazuli hit her brother directly in the face.

"Lazuli!" he snapped at her knocking the pillow to the floor.

"What." She said innocently "you told me to."

"I didn't really mean it. You're ambidextrous, both of your hands are dominant." He stared at the ceiling _man that'd be convenient_ Lapis thought looking at his own useless hand.

"I'm sure you could learn if you wanted to, it would just take practice."

"I don't think you can just _decide_ to be ambidextrous." Lapis huffed.

"You think so?" Lazuli scowled at him "how do you know if you've never tried?"

"Maybe I read it somewhere?" Lapis challenged.

"Did you?" Lazuli asked.

"What?" Lapis stopped looking at his arm and glanced over at his sister.

"Did you read it somewhere?" Lazuli repeated.

"No, but-"

"Then shut up and give it a try." Lazuli snapped returning her gaze to the window _I'm sure there's someone there_ she thought to herself.

Dinner was not a favorite time of either Lapis or Lazuli. Their father sat at the head, their mother on the right beside him with Lazuli on his left and Lapis at the opposite end. Lazuli smirked as she spooned a mouthful of soup into her mouth. Lapis caught her smirk and glanced over at their father who was looking down at his tablet.

 _He's always working_ Lapis and Lazuli thought at the same time, they caught each other's eyes and knew they had the same thought.

 _Watch this_ Lazuli tried to send telepathically to her brother. Lazuli dipped her spoon back into the bowl and raised it to her lips.

"Ouch!" Lazuli exclaimed dropping her spoonful of vegetable soup onto her father's tablet.

"Lazuli!" he exclaimed grabbing for the device. Lapis gave the table cloth just the lightest of tugs pulling his father cup right into the danger zone. His father's suit sleeve caught the edge of the wine glass, everyone watched on silent awe as the wine glass toppled over, breaking on the edge of Lazuli's plate that she had nudged a few inches forward.

"Dammit, Lazuli!" Her father exclaimed wiping the tablet furious with his napkin.

"I'm so sorry, daddy!" she exclaimed, tears in her eyes.

"I didn't have the chance to back any of that up, yet." He yelled.

"I didn't mean to, daddy." She began to cry, tears splattered onto the table as she hung her head and hid her face in her sleeves.

"Lazuli…" her mother reached for her.

"I'm s-sorry." Lazuli cried as Lapis casually slid from the table and went to the kitchen. She continued to cry.

"Adam." Lazuli's mother snapped in a harsh whisper, as if Lazuli couldn't hear her. "It was an accident."

"A costly accident." Adam snapped "they cannot be allowed to just keep getting away with these so-called _accidents_ " he roared on. Lapis returned a moment later with a bag of rice, he took the device from his father, took it apart and dropped the pieces in the bag "here you go, pops." Lapis handed the bag to his father "leave it in there for twenty four hours and it'll be good as new."

"I need it in the next twenty four seconds, how does this help me?" he yelled at Lapis throwing the bag onto the ground. Lazuli wailed louder while Lapis brushed it off and returned to his seat to finish his dinner. Man, he hated going to bed without a full stomach and his mom really was an amazing cook.

"Adam." Lazuli's mother snapped at him, "He was just trying to be helpful."

"I'll be back later." Adam finally said "hopefully I can get some work _re-done_ " he shot directly at Lazuli. She looked up at him with wide tear filled eyes. For a second it seemed he might reach out and touch her head, maybe tell her it was okay but he didn't. Instead, he closed his eyes, like he was erasing her from his vision and stormed out.

"That model is water resistant." Lapis said nonchalantly taking a drink. "If he dropped it in an eight foot pool he might be in for some trouble but a little soup, a splash of wine," Lapis shrugged and took another bite "should be fine."

"Why didn't you say that while he was still here?" Lapis' mother sighed dropping her head into her hands.

"I'm sorry." Lazuli ran out of the kitchen and disappeared up the stairs. Her mother just watched her run up, Lapis watched his mother watch Lazuli.

"Aren't you going to go after her?" Lapis prompted.

"There's nothing I can do." She said with a sigh.

"Inspiring." Lapis finished off his soup by pouring it down his throat straight out of the bowl. "I hope I can be just a great a parent as you and Adam, Meredith." Lapis snapped shoving the chair away from the table, it clattered to the ground, he didn't bother to stop and pick it up. Why should he? She always left the pieces to be picked up by someone else.


	3. Chapter 3

Lapis pushed the door open to their shared room and found Lazuli sprawled out across her bed.

"Forget it, they both failed." Lapis said dropping back onto his own bed.

"What?" Lazuli's eyes were free of tears now as she glared at her brother "she didn't even think about it?" Lazuli demanded sitting up.

"She just said there's nothing she can do." Lapis shrugged and drew imaginary pictures on the ceiling with his finger.

"Unbelievable." Lazuli huffed "maybe one day I'll be as great a parent as her." She snarked sarcastically.

"I said the same thing." Lapis chuckled.

"We have to do something." Lazuli said "you can't just have kids and not pay attention to them."

"Yeah, well, they did." Lapis said dismissively.

"Stop pretending you don't care." Lazuli snapped as she strode across the room, ignoring the aches and pains covering her body. Really she had gotten away with minimal damage.

"I mean she didn't even notice the outfit I stole." Lazuli threw the clothes onto the ground and crossed her arms, she winced. Her shoulder still ached.

"Maybe you're just that good." Lapis hung his head over the edge of his bed so he could watch Lazuli pace back and forth.

"Relax, it's not like anything new has happened" Lapis examined his broken hand _I can't wait for this to come off, but eight weeks is so long_ "just accept it, we have these parents, it's not like we can trade them in."

"I wish we could." Lapis kicked the wall hard enough to crack it.

"Ow!" she yelled falling back onto the floor. Her body ached all over again from the double impact.

"Lazuli!" Lapis flipped out of bed, shaking his own injuries "are you okay?" he sat on the ground beside her.

"Yeah," Lazuli clenched her teeth against the pain "yeah, I'm fine." She pushed herself back up and dropped onto her bed "I'm going to sleep." She mumbled, her face in the pillow. Lapis picked himself back up, cradling his injured arm to his chest as he dropped into his own bed.

"Sounds like a good idea." His voice was muffled by the mattress but Lazuli heard him.

"I'm usually full of them." Lazuli said smiling to herself.

Lapis lifted his head from the mattress to scowl at his sister "shut up." Lazuli smirked but didn't say anything else.

"I can feel you planning something." Lapis sighed.

"I thought you couldn't feel intangible things." Lazuli taunted.

"This is different." Lapis argued "we're twins, we're two halves of…" he yawned "…a single whole and all tha… stuf _ffff_ …" he spoke through yawns and turned over onto his side "I thought we were going to bed, Lazuli…"

"Shut up, Lapis." Lazuli spoke around a yawn. She turned onto her side to go to sleep but then she saw the window and thought of the feeling she got earlier. _I know someone was watching us_ Lazuli slid out of bed. She examined the streets, she didn't know what she was looking for but she knew something was there. There wasn't too much going on outside. A little old lady walked her little dog down the street, an old man in a trench coat and cane hobbled along the sidewalk but there was no one else and nothing suspicious going on.

"I know there's something." Lazuli whispered to herself as she stared out the window. She sighed, frustrated, and looked over at her sleeping brother "you're so useless sometimes, Lapis." She shook her head and perched on the window seat. "But what am I looking for?" eyes scanning the street she leaned back against the wall, man was she banged up. Lazuli hadn't ached this much since the time she and Lapis got jumped for marking someone's territory. She smiled to herself thinking of the looks on their faces when they found six more of Lapis' and Lazuli's tags on 'their' streets. On top of the fact that Lapis and Lazuli were not fighters, there were at least twelve people there, some were adults. Lazuli thought they did pretty well because they both got away without a single broken bone. Of course they came out as one big bruise but still, no broken bones? Lazuli considered that a victory when in a fight that badly outnumbered. Lazuli glanced at her phone sitting on her bedside table, she could call her friend best friend Cookie, Lazuli hadn't had much contact with her friends lately, of course she was also skipping a lot of school lately too. But, Cookie loved stakeouts.

"I'll call her." Lazuli padded across the room and snatched her phone up.

"Lazuli!" Cookie's voice was a bit on the screechy side when she was excited but Lazuli loved her all the same.

"Party?" Lazuli guessed at the sound of music and screaming in the background.

"Yeah, a rave downtown." Cookie giggled, _someone has had a bit too much to drink?_ Lazuli thought with a laugh.

"You should totally come meet us down here-oop- excuse me." Cookie giggled. Lazuli was a bit concerned for her friend, she was the kind of girl that attracted attention.

"We haven't seen you in _forever_." Cookie groaned. Lazuli guessed she had stepped outside because the sound weren't quite as loud.

"I'd come down but I'm one big ache covered in bruises right now." Lazuli groaned "I couldn't handle all those people."

"Oh gosh, did you get jumped again?" Cookie sounded a mixture of concern and anger.

"No, Lapis and I were running from the police and we ended up getting cut off by some random car and we ate the pavement to put it comically." Lazuli yawned, now she was _really_ getting sleepy.

"How about the mall tomorrow?" Lazuli offered.

"Yeah!" Cookie exclaimed "I have cheer practice in the morning but I'll be there around noon to pick you up, okay?" Cookie hiccuped.

"Yeah- I'll…" Lazuli yawned "I'll see you tomorrow, I'm gonna pass out."

"Okay, see you tomorrow." Cookie said gently "get some rest, I need you in top clubbing condition." The call ended with an abrupt crash. Lazuli dropped her phone on her bed beside her and laughed "she just dropped her phone."

 _"_ _You were too hard on her, Adam."_

Lazuli woke to the hushed argument of her parents.

 _"_ _It was an accident, she didn't mean to do it and if you had bothered to stick around your son could have told you that it's water proof."_

 _"_ _Those two mistakes up there are your problem, I didn't want them."_ Adam was bad at keeping his voice down.

Lazuli rolled her eyes and looked over at Lapis, she wasn't surprised to find his eyes open.

"Daddy's drunk again." Lapis smirked sarcastically.

"More like completely trashed." Lazuli scoffed folding her hands behind her head as she stared up at the ceiling, her arm ached but she ignored it, pain simply meant you were still alive.

"We're mistakes right now." Lapis went on.

"Yeah and the next time you score the winning basket." Lazuli paused for her brother

"Or you test the highest in the country." Lapis interrupted

"We'll be his pride and joy." Lazuli finished scornfully

 _"_ _You go up and apologize to your daughter!"_ Meredith yelled at Adam dropping her hushed whisper and shouting the order in his face. Lazuli and Lapis snickered to themselves.

"Well, at least we never have to wonder about who wears the pants in this family." Lazuli smirked. Lapis rolled over and pulled his blankets over his head.

"What are you doing?" Lazuli snapped at him.

"Going to sleep, of course." He smiled to himself "I wouldn't want to interrupt your guy's father daughter talk, now would I?"

"What are you talking about?" Lazuli growled

"Mom just ordered him to do something." Lapis yawned "he'll be up here in three…two… _one_."

"La _sthuli_." Her father sighed as he creeped into her room. The bed was completely silent as he sat beside her and placed his hand on her shoulder "La _sthuli_." His name slurred on her name.

"Yes, daddy." She feigned innocence, yawning and stretching as she rolled over as if she had just woken up.

"Your mo _sther_ _sth_ inks I was t _ooo_ hard on y-yo _u_." He leaned on Lazuli heavily.

"Daddy?" Lazuli tried to push herself up but her father had a good hundred pounds on her. "Dad." She snapped trying to push him off. His snores startled her so badly she would have jumped out of bed if he wasn't pinning her down.

"You're joking." Lazuli clenched her teeth together. "Lapis." She reached for her bedside table to find something to throw at him. "Lapis, I know you're still awake." Lazuli shoved at her father's dead weight "get up and help me push our drunk of a father onto the floor." She thrashed against his weight but it was useless, Lazuli stood five foot two and weighed a solid hundred pounds dripping wet and still very injured.

"Lapis." She snapped.

"I'm coming." He groaned rolling out of bed careful not to bump his broken arm. "Not entirely sure how much help I can be, down one arm and I'm not exactly the muscle body builder type anyway."

"Just try." Lazuli braced her hands against his shoulders as best she could and pushed while Lapis grabbed the back of his collar and pulled.

"Try harder." Lazuli ordered trying to get her legs into a position to help push Adam off.

"I'm tr _ying_." Lapis hissed clenching his teeth with the pain of exertion. Finally, Lazuli managed to slide out from under him.

"Forget it." She huffed "I'm sleeping in your bed." Lazuli tucked herself into Lapis' bed and closed her eyes, now she really was tired and her body ached more than it had in days.

"I don't remember agreeing to that." Lapis crawled into the other side and pulled the comforter over his head.

"Two halves of a single whole." Lazuli smiled over her shoulder at her brother, "remember?"

"Whatever, Lazuli."

"Dad's such a prick." Lazuli mumbled

"How long did it take you to figure that one out?" Lapis chuckled.

"Shut up." Lazuli snapped "you aren't the one he just passed out on."

"Boohoo, poor Lazuli." Lapis taunted drifting off to sleep.

"You're always such a jerk sometimes." Lazuli huffed half asleep herself.

"It's either always or sometimes, Lazuli." Lapis yawned.

"Wha…" Lazuli swallowed her yawn and tried to look at Lapis.

"What you said didn't make any sense. Always and sometimes are different." Lapis pointed out.

"You're stupid." Lazuli yawned tugging on the blanket.

"You're the one not-" he yawned "not making any sense."

"You're the one stealing all the blankets." Lazuli yanked on the blankets and bundled them all around her. Lapis was already too far gone to care. Lazuli settled into the nest she had built around her.

"You still don't make sense." Lapis mumbled.

"You're still st _upi…_ " Lazuli trailed off as sleep took her over.


	4. Chapter 4

"Really, Adam." Meredith groaned, Lazuli turned over and covered her head with the pillow, it was simply far too early to be awake.

"You passed out in your daughter's bed." Lazuli didn't have to see to know her mother's hand was fisted on her hip, the other holding a cup of coffee as her perfectly curled blonde hair bounced around her face with every punctuating head nod.

"She cost me money." Adam grumbled nursing a hangover.

"I told you already." Meredith snapped "Lapis said that model is water proof, have you even tried it?"

"Water proof doesn't save it from the floor, does it, Meredith?" Adam snapped slamming his mug into the table.

"Wow." Lapis said amused "she actually got him up in time for work."

"Can't they at least pretend they care about not letting us hear?" Lazuli groaned.

"Why would they do that?" Lapis asked "that'd make them halfway decent parents and they've got a reputation to uphold." Lapis sat up "come on, Lazuli, be reasonable."

"I'm a teenage girl." Lazuli said swinging her legs out from under the covers "reasonable, isn't exactly what we're known for."

"What, are you saying? Girls are an entirely separate species now?" Lapis hopped out of bed and went to his closet, clothes were hung neatly, if he measured them he was sure the hangers would measure exactly an inch apart. _Mom picks the most inane things to fuss over_ he thought as he yanked on a pair of straight legged jeans over some boxers going on their third day of use.

"We mind as well be, teenage girls think on a whole different wave length than any other living thing on this planet." Lazuli closed herself in her closet and pulled on a pair of black leggings and a loose fitting t-shirt style dress. She breezed out of the closet and flopped back onto her bed "Well, _that_ was exhausting." She sighed, her body ached "man, I wish I would just heal already, this is so killing my buzz."

"I know what you mean." Lapis grumbled from his closet just before he lost his balance and fell into the wall, dragging at least ten other items with him. Lazuli looked at his closet "you okay?" she asked. Lapis whimpered as he cradled his broken arm to his chest. "Yeah." He grunted "just fine." Glaring at his arm he wished that his stupid arm would just heal already, that or stop feeling pain. "A pain free life." He laughed at himself "what a thing to wish for." Lapis pulled on a new shirt identical to his other long sleeved shirt and went to lay back down.

"There, that's enough for one day."

"Agreed." Lazuli nodded.

The door creaked open not ten minutes later and their mother's head peaked in "Lapis, Lazuli. It's time to get up." Their mother strode in in her usual skirt suit attire and threw their curtain open. Lazuli hissed at the sunlight and covered her eyes. Lapis groaned and buried his head into the mattress.

"We got dressed." Lapis' voice was muffled by the bed.

"Come down and eat some breakfast, then you can rest." Their mother said as she began picking up the mess in Lapis' closet. "I have a meeting today so I'll be gone most of the afternoon."

"Doing some express parenting before you go?" Lapis mocked thinking of last night _she didn't even try_ he glared into his mattress.

"Please, Lapis, not today, not after last night." Meredith sighed hanging the clothes back up meticulously placing them.

Lapis flipped over and sat up to look at her. "You mean the part where dad threw a fit or the part where he came and passed out on Lazuli's bed?" Lapis narrowed his eyes at his mother, he could feel the bruises on his face, the stitches over his eye as he speared her with his accusatory gaze.

"Lapis, not today." She snapped stomping out of the room. Lazuli didn't move, she just stared at the ceiling and pretended nothing was going on. Their mother slammed the door when she left, Lapis glared after her.

"How long do you think it'd take her to find out we were gone?" Lapis drummed his fingers against his thigh. Lazuli didn't say a word. Lapis glanced over at her. "You okay."

"I just…" Lazuli sighed "I just don't care anymore." She climbed to her feet, nothing sounded better to Lazuli at that moment than to lie in bed all day and rest her aching body.

"It's for the best." Lapis stood finally succumbing to the grumbling in his stomach "just hop on off the disappointment train, Lazuli, we've only got each other." Lapis clasped her shoulder as he passed her "they're just far too blind to see what they're missing out on." Lapis smirked. Lazuli looked at Lapis' hand on her shoulder, a smile crawled over her lips and she met his eyes with a similar expression "they're going to see it one day." Lazuli strutted out of the room, her strides long and strong, only Lapis would be able to see the slight hitch as she switched legs. _She's hurting_ he looked at her bedside table, her prescription was completely full _she won't even take one_ he shook his head _so stubborn_.

Lazuli tried to ignore the way Lapis favored his left side, his less injured side, as he ate his coco crunch. _He looks weird using his left hand_ Lazuli thought as she stirred her oatmeal and strawberries.

"How bad?" Lazuli asked sounding indifferent as she ate a spoonful of her breakfast.

"Hmm…" Lapis looked up from his food with a blank expression.

"How bad?" Lazuli repeated examining her spoon.

"My arm or everything?" Lapis narrowed his eyes distastefully at his cast, Lazuli had taken the liberty of signing her name on it.

"Depends, does it all mold into one big bruise or are there varying levels of pain?" Lazuli took another bite, she didn't want him to think she was too concerned.

"Pretty much a giant bruise." Lapis said with a nod slurping down his cereal.

"This beat last time?" Lazuli asked thinking of the time they had stolen a car and that truck hit them, it was amazing they were still alive.

"No way, nothing can beat that one." Lapis laughed "I swear, my arm was all the way turned around." Lapis tried his non-broken one, the one that was injured last time. "Dislocated shoulder and broken in three places," Lapis leaned back with a satisfied smile "and you with no memory, epic." Lapis snickered. Lazuli couldn't help but smile, she hadn't really had amnesia for a month, she just liked that her dad was being nice to her for the time since she was a child and her mom hadn't gone to work the whole time. Even Lapis didn't know that she was faking for so long.

"So I'm gonna hit the mall with Cookie, you coming?" Lazuli asked "she's coming around noon."

"You ask like you don't care if I go or not." Lapis teased "we both know you're lost without me."

"Is that why you follow me around all the time?" Lazuli taunted.

"Semantics." Lapis said dismissively. "I need some new shoes anyway." Lazuli glanced over at his shoes in the corner, they had been shredded from the accident, scratched and torn and virtually unwearable.

"I think those are still okay to wear." Lazuli joked.

"You can barely even tell they nearly died." Lapis joined in on the stupid joke.

"They're ready for a marathon." Lazuli snickered. Lazuli's phone rang interrupting they're stupidity.

"Hey cookie." Lazuli snorted.

"Hey, cheer's finished early, we're coming over to get you now." Cookie said all chipper.

"Cool, who's all going?" Lazuli lifted her aching body up from the table and plopped down onto the couch.

"Mandarin and Castella." Cookie giggled at something Lazuli couldn't see.

"Castella wants to know if your brother is coming." Cookie giggled again.

"Of course he is, we're joined at the hip, or didn't you know?" Lazuli snickered, she knew what face Lapis was making right now. As Cookie giggled and teased Castella about Lapis, Lazuli wasn't so sure she was up for the mall anymore, she just wanted to sit in a hot bath for the entire day maybe the night too.

"We're ten minutes away, be ready." Cookie hung up before Lazuli could change her mind. Lazuli sighed and buried her face into the back of the couch.

"Just cancel." Lapis fell back onto the armchair immediately regretting the decision when the motion jarred his entire body. Clenching his teeth, he held his breath until the pain ebbed away into a more bearable dull ache.

"I can't, I already gave Cookie my word." Lazuli cradled her aching ribs, she wasn't so sure she was durable enough to handle a day out with Cookie. Lazuli loved her best friend and all but Cookie was a bull in a china shop.

"You and giving your word." Lapis rolled his eyes at her, ironic how a shoplifter was so keen on keeping her 'word' and always being honest, at least to her friends because Lapis had witnessed firsthand her lie through her teeth to their parents, to police officers and even swearing to tell the truth on a bible to a judge. Not exactly an honest Abby.

"At least I have a code." Lazuli shot back.

"Hey, I've got a code." Lapis argued, "It's don't get caught in a lie."

"Inspiring." Lazuli play mocked forcing herself to sit up, she heard Cookie's car long before the door flew open to Cookie, Castella and Mandarin."

"Lazuli!" They each squeaked as they wrapped their arms around their injured comrade.

"Ouch." Lazuli hissed trying not to yell at them.

" _Ohmygosh_." Cookie exclaimed jumping back "I'm so sorry, Lazuli." Cookie took more care as she sat next to her friend "how are you feeling?" she asked, concern coloring her tone.

"Bruised." Lazuli winced as the other girls sat around her.

"We'll go slow today, and we'll only go for a little bit, then we can go out to eat or we can watch a movie, yeah?" Cookie had these big dough eyes you just couldn't say no to. Lazuli smiled and nodded "yeah."

"Yay!" Cookie jerked Lazuli to her feet without thinking. Mandarin and Castella scooped Lazuli into their arms, cheerleader style, and carried her out to the car.

"Come _on,_ Lapis." Cookie grabbed Lapis' good arm and dragged him out of the house. Lapis grit his teeth against the ache encompassing his entire body.

"Lazuli gets the front seat." Cookie called as Mandarin and Castella loaded Lazuli into the car. "Lapis, you sit here." Cookie strategically pushed Lapis into the seat beside Castella and slammed the door before he could argue. Castella cast coy eyes toward him every so often. Lapis wasn't entirely sure if he was or wasn't into Castella, the girl was gorgeous, no doubt, but he didn't really know a whole lot about her other than that.

"What's your favorite food?" Lapis asked suddenly, it was fifteen minutes to the mall and Cookie was jabbering away to Mandarin and Lazuli. Castella considered the question seriously then flashed Lapis a huge smile "Chile cheese fries." She said.

"How about we go share a foam box of chili fries at the food court while the others shop?" Lapis smiled at Castella. Castella concealed her excitement and nodded "yeah, sure." She sat back and crossed her legs, yep she had those cheerleader legs.

"Cool." Lapis sat back, she wasn't looking at him anymore. Honestly he kind of missed it already.

"It wasn't as bad as the truck incident." Lazuli insisted as Cookie wheeled her around in a wheelchair. Cookie got it part because she was concerned for Lazuli and part because people were always nicer to a girl in a wheelchair.

"Are you sure." Mandarin asked eyeing the bumps and bruises decorating Lazuli's body."

"Yeah." Lazuli couldn't help but laugh, they had no idea how bad the truck incident really was. Her leg had taken _forever_ to heal.

"Ooh, go in here." Mandarin ran into the priciest store Lazuli had ever seen. It looked like Paris threw up in the place. It was pink and black lace and of course the sales lady had a French accent on top of that.

"How can I help you?" The lady squeaked in her accent.

"I need a necklace to go with my prom dress, it's a sweet heart floor length dress." Mandarin held up her phone to the lady "this is it here."

"ah, beautiful." The lady purred sensing an easy sale. Lazuli wheeled herself over to the dresses, speaking of prom she should really get around to buying her dress, or finding a dress to buy at least.

"A nice shade of purple would suit you." Cookie faked a French accent imitating the sales lady who was already off with Mandarin.

"Purple is kind of my color isn't it?" Lazuli fingered a deep purple single strap dress with a rhinestone belt in the shape of a chrysanthemum.

"Most definitely." Cookie leaned against the rack and smiled down at Lazuli "did your mom totally try to kill you?" Lazuli suddenly didn't feel like shopping anymore.

"I'm kind of sore." Lazuli started to wheel herself out but Cookie grabbed the handles and stopped her.

"There's a sauna here." Cookie teetered in front of her, there was nothing Lazuli loved more than a good spa day.

"Come on, Lazuli, you need a nice long soak in their Jacuzzi." Cookie didn't wait for Lazuli to answer, she already knew what Lazuli would say.

Yes, yes, yes. This was exactly what Lazuli needed for her aching body. Lazuli sighed sinking down low enough that everything was covered except her face.

"There's that smile." Cookie giggled. Mandarin had stayed behind to find the perfect necklace but they were sure Mandarin would meet them soon.

"This feels so good." Lazuli sighed letting the water take all her weight.

"Yeah it does." Cookie sighed and relaxed back into the water in the same manner that Lazuli had.

"Hey, who's that?" Cookie suddenly caught sight of a man, she could just make out his form, there were no distinguishing features to report but Lazuli felt it. Something about him was off. Lazuli watched the figure exit. There was no reason to think so, no reason to believe he wasn't just a worked or a guy that walked into the wrong room. No, not a single reason but still Lazuli was sure he was watching her.


End file.
